by Takahiro Onaga

Being a Japanese boxing fan means that I rarely get domestic Middleweight bouts to be excited about. Today however I was excited as the explosive Tomohiro Ebisu (17-4, 17) faced off with Makoto Fuchigami (23-12, 13) in a bout for the Japanese “interim” Middleweight title. The bout saw two former champions facing off for a title that was created due to an injury to Hikaru Nishida and ended up being an unexpected Christmas gift for fight fans.

The bout started in an exciting manner with neither man really feeling out their foe but instead choosing to get in and out whilst looking to land bombs. The round was a lot more exciting than many opening rounds but did little to prepare us for what was to come.

In the second round the action picked up and we went from a fun opening round to a round of the year contender with both holding their feet and trading bombs in some elongated sequences of back and forth action. It seemed like Fuchigami was the more skilled and slightly quicker but he was unable to avoid the heavier shots of Ebisu who's vaunted power told in round 2 when he dropped Fuchigami.

It was again Ebisu's power which looked the key in round 3 when he wobbled Fuchigami, but that time the former world title challenger gritted his teeth and quickly fired back forcing Ebisu to back off. The same incredible action continued through round 4 as fans had 3 successive round-of-the-year contenders and knew they were getting something special.

Having landed pretty much everything his could up close Ebisu had a change in game plan in round 5 as he started to use his feet more, forcing Fuchigami to close the distance and allowing himself to get full extension on his shots. Those shots, as Fuchigami was coming in, looked more powerful than the earlier ones and seemed to shake Fuchigami more than the shots he landed when the two were trading.

Ebisu continue to box and move through rounds 6 and 7, though the action did get more intense in the 7th round with some great back and forth the in the later stages of the round. The ending of round 7 seemed to be the start of the end for Fuchigami who was staggered early in round 8, then rocked again before going down. The brave 33 year old got to his feet but was dropped, hard, from a huge right hand, and the referee immediately stopped the bout.

With the win Ebisu becomes a 2-time Japanese Middleweight champion and fans who were in attendance will never forget this unexpected early Christmas treat. For Fuchigami however it's a Christmas nightmare and potentially the end of his career, which has seen him unify the Japanese and OPBF Middleweight titles, courtesy of a brilliant fight with Koji Sato, and fight Gennady Golovkin.